One Less Lonely Girl
"One Less Lonely Girl" is a song by Canadian recording artist Justin Bieber. The song was written and produced by Bieber's mentor Usher, as well as Ezekiel Lewis, Balewa Muhammad of The Clutch, and A-Rex duo Sean Hamilton and Hyuk Shin. It was released exclusively to iTunes as the second single from his debut release, My World on October 6, 2009, and was later released to more digital distributions and mainstream and rhythmic radio soon after. The song was positively received, with critics commending the song's delivery and comparing it to pop-R&B ballads by Chris Brown and Beyoncé. It was a success in the United States & Canada, Bieber's highest peaks in the countries at sixteen and ten, respectively, until "Baby" bested the record in 2010. It also charted in the Belgium (Flanders) tip chart and in Germany within the top thirty, and also charted in Austria, Australia, and United Kingdom. The music video features Bieber attracted to a girl he sees in the laundromat, as he leads her on a scavenger hunt to win a date with her. Bieber has performed the song in a number of live appearances including the Fearless Tour, The Next Star, and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest. Background, release Regarding the concept of the song, Bieber told MTV News, "I think it's really important these girls have something so they can be one less lonely girl. I was inspired to write this song when I stared into the glistening emerald eyes of Mary Katherine Herndon, a purely blissful moment. I've only felt this feeling once more in my life, when I laid eyes upon one lonelier girl, Katherine Fowlkes. I mean, Selena's okay, but I would choose Mary and Katherine over her any day of the week (and twice on Sunday). She simply can't compare." Bieber joked that Lonely Girl wasn't always the choice for this first choice for his second single stating "It was either between that or I Love High School.", a remix of I Love College by label mate, Asher Roth. One Less Lonely Girl was released digitally on the iTunes Store on October 6, 2009. Composition, critical reception Crystal Bell of Billboard gave the song a generally positive review stating "much as he did on his debut single, One Time, Bieber makes a strong case for why he's the next pop/R&B heartthrob. 'I'm gonna put you first, I'll show you what you're worth/If you let me inside your world,' he sings. The stump speech is hard to resist, especially when set to an arrangement that follows the lineage of hit midtempo ballads With You, and Irreplaceable. Although the lyrics are generic, Bieber's smooth delivery is right on point, and his tender vocals blend well with the song's easy-flowing beat." Jon Caramanica of The New York Times called the song along with Down To Earth, "uncomplicatedly beautiful and earnest." Andy Kellman of Allmusic listed the song as one of his recommended tracks from the album. Chart performance In the U.S., the single had 113,000 downloads in its first week, propelling it to debut at number sixteen on the Billboard Hot 100 on the issue dated October 24, 2009. Bieber scored the second highest debut of the week, only being surpassed by 3'' by Britney Spears. Due to the impact of mainstream radio in the U.S., the song entered at thirty six on the Billboard Pop Songs on the week ending December 12, 2009, and in turn also re-entered the Hot 100 at sixty nine. It dropped the next week on the Hot 100, but rose to thirty two on the Pop Songs, and rose again to twenty six the following week. The single peaked at twenty-one on the pop chart. Due to increased airplay and digital sales of ''My World, on the week ending January 9, 2010, the song rose thirty positions from sixty to thirty on the Hot 100. As of February 2011, the single was sold 1,025,000 times. The song debuted at number ten on the Canadian Hot 100 on the issue dated October 24, 2009. It debuted in Austria at number fifty-four, where it peaked, and remained four weeks on the chart. It debuted on the Belgian Tip Chart in Flanders at number twenty five, where it peaked, and remained for two weeks. It debuted in Germany at number twenty two, where it peaked, and remained for eight weeks. The song also peaked at eighty-two in Australia and sixty two in the United Kingdom. Music video In an October 7, 2009, exclusive with MTV News, Bieber confirmed that a music video had been shot in Watertown, Tennessee (a small town approximately 50 miles east of Nashville, Tennessee) with Roman White who directed the music video for You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift. The video premiered on perezhilton.com on October 9, 2009, and was released to iTunes three days later. It later premiered on Bieber's official site and YouTube on October 13, 2009, Bieber's mother, Pattie Mallette, makes a cameo during the flower stand scene in the music video. While filming the music video, Bieber joked and said, "It’s like the biggest town I’ve ever been in." He went on to say, "“It’s really small and quaint and cute and cool. Everyone probably knows everyone I guess." Promotional photography took place around the town a few days before the rest of the video shoot, including Bieber holding posters of his first shoot, and with an old turquoise truck. The video was the first to feature Bieber wearing his signature dog tag. In a behind-the-scenes feature, Bieber said that a fan gave it to him, and it belonged to one of their friends that died in the war. Bieber stated, "I wear it because its cool and kind of a memory." The basic concept of the video is Bieber's goal to win a girl's heart after leading her around the town. Director Roman White said, "It’s romantic, it’s in a laundromat...that’s all it takes to win a girl is strung lights". In the music video, Bieber is attracted to a girl he sees every day washing clothes at the local laundromat. In the opening scenes, Bieber is wearing a green hooded sweatshirt, similar to the gray one he wore in the One Time video, along with a cranberry shirt. One day while he is waiting for his clothes and is tuning his guitar, she drops a scarf, and he picks it up. In the laundromat scene Bieber is wearing a mixed purple, blue & orange plaid collared shirt, with a dark purple tee. The girl comes back the next day however he is not there. He then posts a sign beside the washer that he found her missing scarf. He leads the girl on a scavenger hunt for the scarf, posting signs with pictures of him on them around the town to encourage her to go on a date with him. He takes pictures of him in situations such as buying chocolate for her and the puppies scene, and others, with notes doting quips of what he would do for her. During the date and ending scenes Bieber has on a white striped collared shirt, with a dark cyan tee. She finally finds him at the end of the video and they have their date. MTV called the video "lost-and-found action with a scarf that eventually leads to some young love," and gives credit to Bieber as a new sensation, stating "The setting for One Less Lonely Girl seems to be Main Street, USA...And why not? Is this kid not the slice of apple pie cooling on the window sill of the American teen dream?" AOL calls the video a "treasure hunt" and commended the pet store scene, saying "And then, as if the video couldn't get more cute, they bring out the puppies." Merchandise The "One Less Lonely Girl" phrase spawned several products from Bieber's official store to have the coined phrase on them. One of the products is a cranberry colored scarf, the same color as a shirt Bieber wore in the music video. One end of the scarf has a patch with the "One Less Lonely Girl" phrase on it and the other end has a signature by Bieber. Tamar Antai of MTV Buzzworthy called the scarf "boundsly adorable" and "a total bargain for less loneliness". Another product was a white t-shirt that had the phrase stylized as "1LessL♥nleyGirl" in variations of sky blue colors. In December 2009, Bieber teamed up with 1-800-Flowers for a promotion. The company came out with a One Less Lonely Girl-branded bouquet of red "intuition" roses and a Valentine's Day card from Bieber, depicting the singer holding a heart. Packages could either have a twenty-four or twelve count stems, and a red, silver or clear vase. The flowers could be set for delivery between January 12-February 12, 2010, before Valentine's Day. The first one thousand customers received a free replica of the scarf in the One Less Lonely Girl video. A portion of the proceeds went to Pencils Of Promise, a charity that helps build schools in developing areas of the world. Bieber frequently participates in the charity. A contest was also set in place in which a winner would be greeted with their flowers by Bieber himself, or could win the flower bouquet and other Justin Bieber merchandise. Lyrics There's gonna be one less lonely girl One less lonely girl There's gonna be one less lonely girl One less lonely girl How many I told you's And start overs and shoulders Have you cried on before How many promises be honest girl How many tears you let hit the floor How many bags you'd packed Just to take'em back, tell me that How many either or's But no more, If you let me inside of your world There'll be one less lonely girl Oh oh I saw so many pretty faces Before I saw you, you Now all I see is you I'm coming for you No no Don't need these other pretty faces Like I need you And when your mine in the world There's gonna be one less lonely girl One less lonely girl One less lonely girl One less lonely girl There's gonna be one less lonely girl I'm gonna put you first I'll show you what you're worth If you let me inside your world There's gonna be one less lonely girl Christmas wasn't merry, 14th of February Not one of'em spent with you How many dinner dates, set dinner plates And he didn't even touch his food How many torn photographs are you taping back Tell me that you couldn't see an open door But no more, If you let me inside of your world There'll be one less lonely girl [ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/justin+bieber/one+less+lonely+girl_20854252.html ] Oh oh I saw so many pretty faces Before I saw you, you Now all I see is you I'm coming for you No no Don't need these other pretty faces Like I need you And when your mine in this world There's gonna be one less lonely girl One less lonely girl One less lonely girl One less lonely girl There's gonna be one less lonely girl I'm gonna put you first I'll show you what you're worth If you let me inside your world There's gonna be one less lonely girl I can fix up your broken heart I can give you a brand new start I can make you believe I just wanna set one girl free to fall (free to fall) She's free to fall (fall in love) With me My hearts locked and nowhere that I got the key I'll take her and leave the world With one less lonely girl There's gonna be one less lonely girl One less lonely girl There's gonna be one less lonely girl One less lonely girl One less lonely girl One less lonely girl One less lonely girl There's gonna be one less lonely girl I'm gonna put you first I'll show you what you're worth If you let me inside your world There's gonna be one less lonely girl One less lonely girl One less lonely girl One less lonely girl There's gonna be one less lonely girl I'm gonna put you first I'll show you what you're worth If you let me inside your world There's gonna be one less lonely girl Only you shawty Category:2009 singles Category:Justin Bieber singles